BX Enviro Legislation - Research Paper Example

 BX Environmental Legislation It was during the time of Theodore Roosevelt, a known environment conservationist, that the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 was passed, with his support (Oracle). The law as it was enacted had twin purposes, one of which was to make sure that the forest timber reserves of the country would not become overly exploited, to the detriment of the environment and of the forest’s viability. The other purpose of the law, at least explicitly and directly, was to make sure that the country’s watersheds were protected from being eroded, as well as from becoming flooded, with the protected trees providing the needed brake to such environmental effects (Wilma). B. Legislation 2: Reclamation Act of 1902 Another piece of legislation that was good for the environment was the Reclamation Act of 1902, also known as the Newlands Act of 1902, named after the chief sponsor of the bill (ccrh.org). The goal of the law was to institutionalize Roosevelt’s vision of reclaiming and turning arid lands found in the southwestern portion of the United States into lands for farming. The law prompted/spurred the starting of sixteen projects of reclamation precisely in that area targeted by Roosevelt in the southwest United States, for the purposes that he intended (Oracle). The overriding motivation was that the congestion in urban areas necessitated the location of alternative land where farming could take place, and the main technology for the reclamation and transformation of the dry lands in the southwest was irrigation. The bill came before the establishment of the Reclamation Service, later to be renamed as the Bureau of Reclamation, the government agency that was tasked with the work related to the bill (ccrh.org; Bureau of Reclamation). 2. Richard Nixon A. Legislation 1: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 This act required, mandated that projects that were put forward as proposals by the different government federal agencies were to include statements relating to the projects’ environmental impacts. Apart from this, the law spurred the creation of an office within the Office of the President devoted to the environment, called the Presidential Council on Environment (MNN Holdings). This office would later be called the Council on Environmental Quality or CEQ (CEQ). The law also broke ground for stipulating in a formal fashion the policies and goals of the federal government relating to the national environment. Where the law recognizes that every American has a stake and a responsibility for being a steward of the environment in each one’s personal capacity, the law also makes a point to include wording that essentially puts the brunt of caring for the environment in the hands of the US federal government.. The idea is that legislation and new programs and projects should be considered for their environmental impacts just as much as for their technical and their financial suitability and viability, and the law puts this principle as a matter of compliance with the law (MNN Holdings; CEQ). B. Legislation 2: The Clean Air Act As the bill’s name suggests, the mandate of the Clean Air Act was the enactment of legislation, regulations and procedures relating to the balancing of the economic development concerns of the country with ensuring that such development did not lead to the deterioration of air quality, but that rather the quality of the air and the cleanliness of the air becomes a priority concern when considering projects and activities tied to the economy. The goal is the improvement of environmental health metrics which redound to better human health. The Act has been credited with reducing pollution emissions into the air by 41 percent during the first four decades of its existence, even as the economy during that time expanded by 64 percent (US EPA). The aims and key stipulations of the law are as follows (US EPA (b)): The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants.(US EPA (b)). 3. Jimmy Carter A. Legislation 1: Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act The law in essence regulated surface mining and related reclamation activities in ways that protected the environment in and around the areas of concern. The reclamation concerned lands that were mined for coal, and the regulation covered not just the mining of surfaces of the earth covered within the United States territory, but also activities tied to exploration, as well as to the surface land effects of activities tied to mining underground. The Department of the Interior, through the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, is the government agency tasked with overseeing the implementation of the law. The law mandates minimum requirements with regard to surface mining for coal on state lands as well as on federal lands. These activities include exploration and mining under the land. The operators of the mines are mandated to keep to a minimum the adverse disturbances to the surrounding ecology. In reclamation, the areas of priority have been identified as land and water resources reclamation and enhancement, whenever possible and practical to do so. Contaminants and issues tied to them are mandated to be part of the mining permits service comments (Cornell University Law School; Fish and Wildlife Service; Environmental Graffiti). B. Legislation 2: Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 This act had the effect of giving legal protection and mandate to the conservation of 26 rivers and about 100 million acres of environmental preserve in Alaska, and had the personal interest of Carter, who went on a press to make sure that the legislation was passed, in concert with a prominent lobby of private individuals that included many celebrities (Environmental Graffiti). In Alaska itself, the ANILCA, as the law is called, resulted in the addition of 43 million acres of land into the park system, while fostering the creation of 10 new parks and the expansion of the areas of three existing parks. The act was responsible for the doubling of the size of the total lands appropriated for parks and refuge purposes, while increasing by a factor of three the land mass that is to be classified as being part of the wilderness (National Parks Conservation Association). 4. Ronald Reagan A. Legislation 1: Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) This piece of legislation, passed in 1986, basically amended an existing legislation designed to take care of hazardous waste, known as the CERCLA or the Superfund legislation, the CERCLA standing for Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation and Liability Act. Among the favorable aspects of the SARA are the infusion of additional funding to finance the management of hazardous wastes, as well as improved goals that looked good on paper at least (Choi et al.): SARA increased the Superfund trust fund by $8.5 billion and reinforced the importance of human health, community involvement, cooperation with state and local laws and authorities, and permanent solutions to hazardous-waste cleanup. Under SARA the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to assess the degree of risk to human and environmental health at sites on the Superfund's National Priority List (NPL) (Choi et al.) B. Legislation 2: Proclamation Extending US Sovereignty to 200 Miles from US Coasts This proclamation is a presidential proclamation rather than a law passed through legislation, but this proclamation has potentially gargantuan impacts on the environment, owing to the way the proclamation puts into the hands of the United States the exploitation and care of the environment within the extended sovereign region that the proclamation claimed for the country (On The Issues). 5. George H. W. Bush (Senior) A. Legislation 1: Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 The act, as the name suggests, made amendments to the original Clean Air Act. The amendments included the prohibition in the use of lead in gasoline used for cars and related motor vehicles with the target date for compliance being 1995. The general thrust of the amendments was the drive to find ways to bring down levels of air pollution and smog (Presidential Timeline). B. Legislation 2: Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 This piece of legislation had several aims, and included provisions for mass transit systems, the safety of existing highways, and highways in general. The allocation for such programs was pegged at US 155 billion, to be spent from 1992 all the way to 1997. This piece of legislation had, at least on paper, the potential to alter the environment in positive ways. The plan for efficient mass transport systems and the maintenance of existing highways had the potential to curb fuel use and to make fuel use for transport more efficient, limiting emissions and the carbon footprint of transport in the US even by just modest amounts compared to the overall footprint of the country (Federal Highway Administration). 6. Bill Clinton A. Legislation 1: Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Amendments Act of 1993 The act was for the authorization given to the states to engage in programs for the export of timber, where the act amends previous legislation known as the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990. The amendments makes several directives addressed to the Secretary of State (GovTrack): (1) prohibit through 1995 the export of unprocessed timber from State and other public lands, or the purchase of such timber as a substitute for exported private land timber; and (2) administer such prohibitions. Authorizes a State, upon approval of the Secretary, to implement a program in lieu of the Federal one. Establishes civil penalties for violations of this Act. (GovTrack). B. Legislation 2: Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 (HR 631) This act had the effect of widening the Colorado preserve system by an area equal to 612,000 acres, all of the land being made part of the national preservation system. Outwardly the addition of new preserves for the environment is a positive, clearly pro-environment piece of legislation that ensures the preservation of the ecology and the enhancement of the Colorado ecology. The preserve acts as a sanctuary for wildlife, and a source of renewal and regrowth for the rest of the ecosystem as well (NARA.gov). 7. George W. Bush (Junior) A. Legislation 1: Energy Policy Act of 2005 The act put into law mandates for energy management, with the goal to make conscious decisions in favor of more judicious and wiser use of energy in government programs. The act also amends parts of the so-called NECPA, or the National Energy Conservation Policy Act. The major areas covered by the Energy Policy Act are as follows (US Department of Energy): Metering and Reporting Energy-Efficient Product Procurement Energy Savings Performance Contracts Building Performance Standards Renewables Energy Requirement Alternative Fuel Use (US Department of Energy). B. Legislation 2: SAFETEA SAFETEA stands for The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act. This makes provisions for the use of government finances for the purposes of efficient and flexible transport programs, that are on paper good for the environment for those reasons (IRS). 8. Barack Obama A. Legislation 1: Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. As the name suggests, this piece of legislation is about land preservation. Obama touts the merits of the law in the following terms (Obama): Among other provisions, H.R. 146 designates three new units in our National Park System, enlarges the boundaries of several existing parks, and designates a number of National Heritage Areas. It creates a new national monument -- the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument –- and four new national conservation areas, and establishes the Wyoming Range Withdrawal Area. It establishes a collaborative landscape-scale restoration program with a goal of reducing the risk of wildfire and authorizes programs to study and research the effects of climate change on natural resources and other research-related activities. (Obama). B. Legislation 2: Food Safety and Modernization Act The act indirectly affects the environment, in the many provisions and regulations tied to the law relating to upgrading food safety standards and regulations, so that they are proactive in dealing with problems related to contamination of the food supply. This more conscious look into the food supply no doubt opens up a greater awareness about the environmental sources of contamination, and how certain practices harm the environment and result in the production of environmental elements that in turn find their way into the food supply. The environmental issues then become intimate food and health issues as well (Gormley). . Works Cited Bureau of Reclamation. “Reclamation Reform Act of 1982”. USBR.gov. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. < http://www.usbr.gov/rra/> Ccrh.org. “Reclamation Act/Newlands Act of 1902”. CCRH. 1902. Web. 8 December 2012. CEQ. “National Environmental Policy Act”. Council on Environmental Quality/Executive Office of the President of the United States. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. < http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/welcome.html> Choi, Lisa et al. “Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)”. The New Georgia Encyclopedia. 2010. Web. 8 December 2012. Cornell University Law School. “30 USC Chapter 25- Surface Mining Control and Reclamation”. Legal Information Institute. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. Environmental Graffiti. “The 5 Most Environmentally Friendly Presidents in US History”. Environmental Graffiti. 2007. Web. 8 December 2012. Federal Highway Administration. “Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 Information”. US Department of Transportation. 2011. Web. 8 December 2012. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act”. Digest of Federal Resource Laws of Interest to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. < http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/SURFMIN.HTML> Gormley, James. “The Food Safety Law: The Way Forward!”. Citizens for Health. 2012. Web. 8 December 2012. < http://www.citizens.org/the-food-safety-law-the-way-forward/> GovTrack. “S. 1084 (103rd): Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Amendments Act of 1993”. GovTrack.us. 1993. Web. 8 December 2012. IRS. “The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act:: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) P.L. 109-59”. IRS.gov. 2012. Web. 8 December 2012. MNN Holdings. “National Environmental Policy Act of 1969”. Mother Nature Network. 2012. Web. 8 December 2012. < http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/politics/photos/six-good-things-richard-nixon-did-for-the-environment/national> NARA.gov. “Chapter 13- Environmental Actions by President Clinton and Vice President Gore”. The White House. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. National Parks Conservation Association. “Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act”. NPCA.org. 27 October 2011. Web. 8 December 2012. Obama, Barack. “HR 146”. The White House. 2009. Web. 8 December 2012. On the Issues. “Ronald Reagan on Environment”. OntheIssues.org. 2012. Web. 8 December 2012. Oracle. “Theodore Roosevelt”. Oracle ThinkQuest. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. Presidential Timeline. “George HW Bush”. PresidentialTimeline.org. n.d. Web. 8 December 2012. US Department of Energy. “Energy Policy Act of 2005”. Energy.gov. 2010. Web. 8 December 2012. US EPA. “40th Anniversary of the Clean Air Act”. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 14 September 2010. Web. 8 December 2012. http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/40th.html US EPA (b). “Summary of the Clean Air Act”. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 23 August 2012. Web. 8 December 2012. Wilma, David. “Congress establishes the first federal forest reserves on March 3, 1891”. HistoryLink.org. 28 February 2003. 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